Apparatus for making ice bodies



April 27, 1965 Y E. H. FRoHBn-:TER 3,180,105

APPARATUS FOR MAKING ICE BODIES Filed on is. 1961 4 sheets-sheet 1 M nl April 27, 1965 E. H. FRoHBlETr-:R

APPARATUS FOR MAKING ICE BODIES 4 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Oct. 18. 1961 April 27, 1965 y E.H.FR0HB1ETER 3,180,105

APPARATUS FOR MAKING ICE BODIES Filed Oct4 18. 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ilm',

April 27, 1965 E. H. FROHBIETER 3,180,105

APPARATUS FOR MAKING ICE BODIES Filed oct 18. 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent O Mice This invention relates to ice makers and in particular to ice body makers such as for use in refrigerators.

One method of providing ice bodies in a refrigerator is to form the ice bodies in a suitable mold therein and, y

upon completion of they freezing of the ice bodies, eject the ice bodies from the mold into a suitable collecting bin. An improved ice body maker of this type is disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 45,750 filed July 27, 1960. As disclosed therein, the ice body maker includes a mold selectively positioned in a generally horizontal freezing position and in a generally vertical dumping position. The mold is preferably arranged to provide a self-freeing of the ice bodies therefrom as they are frozen therein so that the ice bodies are ejected from the mold to the collecting bin by the simple expedient of dumping them from the mold. The present invention is concerned with the means for controlling the automatic operation of such an ice body maker.

Thus, a principal feature of the present'invention is the provision of an ice body maker having new and improved control means.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of such an ice body maker having new and improved means for controlling the operation thereof as a function of the level of ice bodies in the collecting means.

A further feature of the invention is the provision of such an ice body maker having new and improved control means effectively precluding the dumping of unfrozen Water from the mold.

Still another feature of the invention is the provision of such an ice body maker having new and improved control means arranged for manual operation to release the mold to the dumping position.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary vertical section of va refrigeration apparatus having an ice body maker provided with control means embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of the ice body maker with the mold disposed in the freezing position;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevation generally similar to that of FIGURE 2 but with the mold disposed in the dumping position;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary front elevation similar to that of FIGURE 2 but with the mold disposed in the reset position;

FIGURE 5 is a front elevation generally similar to that of FIGURE 2 but with the level control means disposed in a locked-out position preventing furtherV operation of the ice body maker;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary front elevation of the ice body maker illustrating `the position of the mold whenever the level control means senses a pre-selected level of ice bodies in the receptacle;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the mold turning control illustrating the position of the timer arm thereof in dotted lines when the mold is in the reset position, and in full lines when the mold is in the freezing position;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary plan view thereof illustrating the position of the time arm when the mold is held by the level sensing control shown in FIGURES 5 and 6.

Patented Apr. 27, 1R65 FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary back elevation of the mold turning control illustrating the disposition of the timer arm when the mold is in the horizontal freezing position; and

FIGURE 10 is a rear elevation of the mold.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention as disclosed in the drawing, an ice body maker generally designated 10 is shown to comprise a mold 11 disposed Within a refrigerated chamber 12 dened by suitable insulated walls such as rear VWall 14, side Wall 15, and front wall 16 which may comprise a suitable door 13 for providing controlled access to chamber 12. The chamber may be refrigerated as by delivery of refrigerated air through a suitable inlet 17 in wall 15 for directing the refrigerated air downwardly against the mold 11 to freeze water in the cavities 18 thereof, the water being delivered to the mold by a suitable delivery duct 19. Herein, mold 11 comprises an improved mold arranged for self-freeing of the ice bodies 20 therefrom, permitting a delivery of the ice bodies to a subjacent collecting bin 21 by the simple expedient of rotating the mold from the full line freezing position of FIGURE 1 to the dotted line dumping position thereof. An improved mold of this type is shown in the above indicated application Serial No. 45,750. g

The present invention is concerned primarily with the means for controlling the positioning of mold 11 to effect the automatic operation of the ice maker. As shown in FIGURE 1, the mold 11 is carried on the distal end of a shaft 22 which extends through the rear Wall 14 from a control mechanism generally designated 2.3. Control mechanism 23 is similar to and functions in a similar manner as the control mechanism fully disclosed in said appl-ication Serial No. 45,750 and reference may be had to that application for a detailed description of the structure thereof. For a complete understandingA of the present invention, however, it need only be understood that the control 23 is arranged to rotate the mold selectively from the horizontal freezing position as shown in FIG- URES 1 and 2 to the generally vertical dumping position as shown in FIGURE 3 and in dotted lines in FIG- URE l. The control 23 further rotates the mold from -the dumping position back beyond the freezing position to a quick changeover position such as illustrated in phantom in FIGURE 4 wherein Wateris passed through duct 19 into the mold, causing the mold to rotate forwardly from the quick changeover position to a reset position as shown in full lines in FIGURE 4. The heat of the water in the mold cavities 13 causes a sensing device 24 at the mold to operate thecontrol 23 to move the mold from the reset position of FIGUREV 4 back to theV horizontal freezing position of FIGURE 2. When the water in the cavities 18 is completely frozen, the sensing devicer24 actuates control 23 torelease the mold to the dumping position of FIGURE 3, thereby recycling the apparatus as discussed above.

The above described cycle of operation is the normal cycle of operation of the apparatus. However, when the level of ice bodies 20 collected in bin 21 reaches a preselected high level, `further operation of the ice maker is automatically discontinued until such time as the level of ice bodies vis reduced therebelowras by the user removing a quanti-ty of the ice bodies from the bin. Further, means are provided for preventing operation of the apparatus under the manual control of the user. Still further, the apparatus is arranged to permit the user to move the apparatus from the reset to the freezing position manually in the event that malfunctoning of the apparatus occurs. Y

Referring now to FIGURE 10, mold 11 includes a rear l Wall 25 provided with a rearwardly projecting cam 26, a rearwardly projecting lug 27 deiining an upwardly facing shoulder 28, and a rearwardly projecting stop 29. Cam 25 extends circumjacent a socket 30 into which the shaft 22 is fitted, and incl-udes a low portion 31 having a minimum spacing from the axis of socket 30 and a high portion 32 having a maximum spacing therefrom withl an arcuate yportion 33 extending-between portions 31 and 32.

As shown in FIGURE l, a level-sensing control 34 is disposed between rear wall 25 o-f mold 11 and the rear wall 14 of the chamber 12. As seen in FIGURE 3, the level-sensing control includes a plate 35 having a first arm 36 to which a sensing finger`37 is secured, and a second arm 38 provided with a-first, forwardly extending Vstop 39 and a second, forwardly extending stop 40. The plate 35 is pivotally mounted intermediate arms 36 and K 38 on a post 41 extending forwardly from enclosure wall 14 whereby the lower end 42 of the sensing finger 37 is moved into and from the collecting bin 21. The plate 35 is further, provided with a forwardly projecting cam follower 43 slidably engaging the cam 26 on mold 11.

Adjarent post 41, plate 35 is further provided with a rearwardly opening recess 44. A bowed leaf spring 45 is `disposed in recess 44 4to extend between a corner Y46 ofthe recess and a mounting post 47 extendingrearwardly from -wall 14. Thus, spring 45 biases the control plate 35 downwardly as shown in FIGURE 3 when the control plate is positioned in a relatively clockwise position. Alternatively, the spring 45 biases the plate 35 upwardly when the plate is moved over center relative to the spring as shown in FIGURES. The upward movement of'arm 36 of the plate 35 is limited by a stop 48 carried Aon the -wall 14 as shown in FIGURE 5, and the clockwise pivoting ot' the mold 11 is limited by the engagement of stop 29 on the mold with stop 48 as shown in FIGURE 3.

Referringnow to FIGURES 7, 8 and 9, the control 23 may be seen to include a spring biased timer arm 49 having a nger Sti selectively engageable with a first shoulder 51 and a second shoulder 52 of a latching plate 53. The finger 59 is movable in mutually opposite directions'indicated by the arrows a and b in FIGURE 7 as a function of the temperature sensedby the sensing device 24. More specifically, control 23 causes a movement of finger 59 in direction a as the temperature sensed by device 24 decreases and in the direction indicated by the arrow b when 4the sensed temperature increases. The

finger 5t) is moved alternatively in the direction of the arrows c and d in accordance with the rotation of the shaft 22. Thus, as shown in FIGURE 7 the nger 50 is in the dotted line position thereof whenwthe shaft is positioned with the mold in the reset position of FIGURE 4 and the finger 50 is positioned as shown in Ifull lines in FIGURE 7 when the shaft is positioned with the mold in the freezing position of FIGURE 2. In normal operation, as the relatively warm water delivered to the cavitesIS causes the finger 50 to move in the b direction after it engages shoulder 51 in the reset position, the finger slips off the shoulder 51 and is immediately moved by the control in the direction d into abutment with the rshoulder 52. The finger remains in abutment with shoulder 52 luntil such time as the freezing of the water in the cavity causes the finger to move sufficiently in the direction a to clear the end of the shoulder 52 and move further in the direction d permitting the rotation of the mold from the freezing positionv of FIGURE 2 -to the dumping position of FIGURE 3. The operation of the control 237m so moving finger 50 is substantially identical to the operation of the control in said application S.N. 45,750.

As shown in FIGURE 2, the end portion 42 of ynger 37Y is movable :to an extreme downward position indicatedY by broken line A when the mold is in the horizontal freezing position and cam follower 43 is in engagement with the low portion 31 of the cam 26. When the mold 11 is pivoted to the dumping position of FIGURE 3, the

cam high portion 32 of the cam raises the cam follower 43 to position the finger portion 42 in an upper position identified by the broken line C. In moving from the dumping position of FIGURE 3 to the quick-changeover positionV and then to the reset position of FIGURE 4, beyond the horizontal freezing position,`the Shoulder 28 on mold 11 moves below and to the right of stop 39 without interference. This relationship of the shoulder 2S to the stop 39 at the reset position whenever the movement of linger 42 .is unimpeded is shown in FIG- URE 4.

When the mold rotates from the dumping position of FIGURE 3 to the quick-changeover position and then to the reset position of FIGURE 4, and assuming that the level of ice bodies in bin 21 is at or abovea preselec-ted level wherein the downward `movement of the finger portion 42 is limited to a position no lower than the broken line B, as shown in FIGURE 6, the bottom surface 28a of shoulder 28 engages the left side of stop 39 of plate 35. Surface 28a and stop 39 are camming surfaces and thus further counterclockwise movement of mold 11 toward the quick changeover position merely rotates the plate 35 counterclockwise until surface 28a clears stop 39 at which time plate 35 moves clockwise until finger 42 is again held by the ice bodies at preselected level B, surface 28 being below stop 39. Once the water enters the cavities 18, the mold -11 is rotated clockwise to the reset position. As previously'described, the heat of the incoming water causes finger 5f) to move in the b direction, as seen in FIGURE 7, until finger 5f) moves clear of shoulder 51 at which time the mold 11 rotates to the horizontal freezing position of FIGURE 2.V However, under the condition of a full receptacle of ice bodies, the Ynger 50 leaves the shoulder 51 but is unable to rotate fully to shoulder 52 because of the interference of shoulder 23 on the mold 1-'1 with stop 39 on the plates 35, as shown in FIGURE 6. With the mold 11 and the plate 35 in the position shown in FIG- URE 6, the finger 50 assumes the position shown in FIGURE 8, that is, spaced intermediate shoulders 51 and 52.

When the finger portion 42 is again allowed to move downwardly below the broken line B, as by the user removing some or all of the ice bodies from the collecting bin 21, the spring 45 causes the plate 35 to pivot in a clockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 2 permitting shoulder 28 to pass to the right of stop 39 and thereby permit mold 11 to move to the freezing position of FIGURE 2. In the event 'that some water remains in the cavities I8, the finger 50 will strike the shoulder 52, as shown in FIGURE 7, and the mold will be retained in the freezing position until such time as all of the water is frozen therein whereupon the device 24 will actuate the mold turning control 23 to move the finger 50 first in the direction a and then in direction d thus permitting the mold to dump the ice bodies into the collecting bin 21.

. In the event that the water is completely frozen in the cavities at the time of removal of the ice bodies from the bin 21 permitting the movement of finger portion 42 downwardly from the broken line B position, thefinger 5t) Vwill already be in a position to clear the shoulder 52 and the mold 11 will immediately pass to the dumping position of FIGURE 3 permitting the above described cycle ofoperation to be repeated. ,Itshould be noted that, by maintaining the finger 5t) spaced from the shoulder 52 as a result lof the holding of the mold by the level sensing control 34, dumping of liquid water from the mold into the collecting bin 21 is effectively precluded.

As indicated briey above, at certain times the user may wish to discontinue operation of the ice maker, such as where it is desired to utilize the space normally occupied by the collecting bin 21for other purposes. Thus, the user merely rotates the control plate 35 in a counterclockwise direction to the position of FIGURE 5 wherein the arm 36 Vabuts the stop 48. The spring 45 passes` over center and causes the control plate to be biased in a counterclockwise direction maintaining the level sensing control in the locking-out position. The shoulder 28 of mold lug 27 engages the stop 4t? of the control plate 3S and thus further movement of the mold 1l and operation of the mold turning control 23 are effectively precluded. To restore the apparatus to the normal operating condition, the user merely pulls the arm 36 downwardly, or in a clockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 5, against the action of spring 4S until the spring once again passes over center to bias the control plate 35 in a clockwise direction. Assuming that the level of ice bodies in bin 21 is below the level B the apparatus then proceeds to cycle as discussed above.

As indicated above, the movement of the finger Sil in the direction b is effected by the actuation of the control 23 by device 24 in response to a sensing of the relatively high temperature of the water delivered to the cavities 18. If for some reason, the device 24 fails to so actuate the control 23 sufiiciently to cause the finger 59 to clear the shoulder Si, the control may hang-up preventing further operation of the apparatus. To permit a facilitated manual movement of the control to return it to the normal functioning, the leading edge S4 of the finger Si) and the shoulder 51 are inclined to the direction b at a small angle, such as approximately 20. Thus edge 54 and shoulder 5I have positive locking eugagement in the reset position as shown in FIGURE 7, while yet the finger S0 may be readily moved in the direction b to clear the shoulder 51 by urging the finger in the direction d by means of suitable rotational manipulation of the mold 11.

Having described my invention as related to the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, it is my v intention that the invention be not limited by any of the details of description, unless otherwise specified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

l. In an ice body maker, structure comprising: a mold defining a cavity for holding Water to be frozen to form an ice body therein; means for rotating said mold about a single fixed axis seriatim to a first, freezing position wherein the cavity opens upwardly, a second, dumping position wherein the cavity opens away from the upward direction, and a third position wherein the cavity opens upwardly prior to returning the mold to said freezing position from said dumping position, said third position differing spatially from said first and second positions; means for collecting ice bodies dumped from the mold; first control means for preventing movement of said mold from said freezing position to said dumping position whenever unfrozen water is in said cavity; means for Sensing the level of ice bodies collected in said collecting means; and second control means responsive to said level sensing means sensing a preselected full level of ice bodies in said collecting means for selectively preventing movement of said mold fully to said freezing position from said third position, said second control means (a) permitting continuous movement of the mold to the dumping position upon a subsequent lowering of the ice body level in the collecting meansto below said preselected level when the ice body in the mold is completely frozen, and (b) stopping movement of the mold in the freezing position upon a subsequent lowering of the ice body level in the collecting means to below said preselected level when at least some water remains in the mold at that time.

2. In an ice body maker, structure comprising: a mold defining a cavity for holding water to be frozen to form an ice body therein; means for disposing said mold selectively in a first, freezing position wherein the cavity opens upwardly, in a second, dumping position wherein the cavity opens away from the upward direction, and in a third position beyond said freezing position from said dumping position; means for collecting ice bodies dumped from the mold; first control means for preventing movement of said mold from said freezing position to said dumping position whenever unfrozen water is in said cavity; means for sensing the level of ice bodies collected in said collecting means; and second control means responsive to said level sensing means for selectively preventing movement of said mold to said freezing position from said third position.

3. In an ice body maker, structure comprising: a mold defining a cavity for holding water to be frozen to form an ice body therein; means for disposing said mold selectively in a first, freezing position wherein the cavity opens upwardly, in a second, dumping position wherein the cavity opens away from the upward direction, and in a third, reset position prior to returning the mold to said freezing position from said dumping position; control means including first latch means for retaining said mold in said reset position, second latch means for preventing movement of said mold from said freezing position to said dumping position whenever unfrozen water is in said cavity, means associated with said first and second latch means utilizing heat energy of the Water delivered to said mold for unlatching said first latch, and disabling means associated with said first latch means for rendering said first latch means ineffective upon manual rotation of said mold from said reset position to said freezing position.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said disabling means includes a selectively engageable inclined shoulder.

5. In an ice body maker, structure comprising: a mold defining a cavity for holding water to be frozen to form an ice body therein; means for disposing said mold selectively in a freezing position wherein the cavity opens upwardlyV and in a dumping position wherein the cavity opens away from the upward direction, said disposing means including means for'moving said mold from said dumping position through said freezing position to beyond said freezing position prior to returning the mold to said freezing position from said dumping position for freezing an ice body therein; means for collecting ice bodies dumped from the mold; first control means for preventing movement of said mold from said freezing position to said dumping position whenever unfrozen water is in said cavity; means for sensing the level of ice lbodies collected in said collecting means; and second control means responsive to said level sensing means for selectively preventing movement of said mold to said dumping position, said second control means including means for holding said mold beyond said freezing position when the level of ice bodies in said collecting means is above a preselected level.

6. The structure of claim 5 wherein said second control means includes manually operable means selectively operable to hold said mold beyond said freezing position.

7. In an ice body maker, structure comprising: a mold dening a cavity for holding water to be frozen to form an ice body therein, and having a cam and a shoulder thereon; means for disposing said mold selectively in a first, freezing position wherein the cavity opens upwardly and in a second, dumping position wherein the cavity opens away from the upward direction, and in a third position beyond said freezing position from said dumping position; means defining a space for collecting ice bodies dumped from the mold; means for controlling the disposition of the mold including a plate having a cam follower movably engageable with said mold cam, a stop selectively engageable with said mold shoulder, and a sensing arm; and means movably carrying said plate for movement of said sensing arm downwardly into said collecting means space as a result of movement of said mold from said dumping position toward said third position, said stop engaging said shoulder to preclude movement 'of said mold from said third position fully to said freezing position in the event that the sensing arm is precluded from moving into said space below a preselected level.

8. In an ice body maker, structure comprising: a mold defining a cavity for holding water to be frozen to form an ice body therein, and having a cam and a shoulder thereon; means for disposing said mold selectively in a first, freezing position wherein the cavity opens upwardly and in a'second, dumping `position wherein the cavityl opens away from the upward direction, and in a third position beyond said freezing position from said dumping position; means defining a space for collecting ice bodies dumped from the mold; means for controlling the disposition of the m'old including a plate having a cam follower movably engageable with said mold cam, a stop selectively engageable with said mold shoulder, andV asensing arm; means movably carrying said plate forimovement of said sensing arm downwardly into said collecting means space as a result of movement of said mold from said dumping position toward said third position, said stop engaging said shoulder to preclude movement of said mold from said third position fully to said freezing position in the event that the sensing arm is precluded from moving into said space below a preselected level; and spring means biasing the plate to urge said sensing arm downwardly into said space.

9. The structure of claim 8 wherein said spring means is arranged to bias the plate outwardly from said space as a result of manipulation of the plate outwardly from said space beyond a preselected point.

10. The structure of claim 8 wherein a fixed stop is provided adjacent said plate for limiting the outward movement of the plate.

11. In an ice body maker, structure comprising: a mold defining a cavity for holding water to be frozen to form an ice body therein, and having a cam and a shoulder thereon; means for disposing said mold selectively in a first, freezingV position wherein the cavity opens upwardly, in a second, dumping position wherein the cavity opens away from the .upward direction, and in a third position beyond said freezing position from said dumping position; means dening a space for collecting ice bodies dumped from the mold; means for controlling the disposition of the mold including a plate having a cam follower movably engageable with said mold cam, a stop selectively engageable with said mold shoulder, and a sensing arm; means movably carrying said plate for movement of said sensing arm downwardly into said co1- lecting means space as a result of movement of said mold from said dumping position toward said third position, said stop engaging said shoulder to preclude movement of said mold from said third position fully to said freezing position in the event that the sensing arm is preeluded from moving into said space belowa preselected level; spring means biasing the plate to urge said sensing arm downwardly into said space, said spring means being arranged to bias the plate outwardly from said space as a result of a manipulation of the plate outwardly from said space beyond a preselected point; a fixed stop adjacent said plate for limiting the outward movement of the plate; and a second stop on said plate engaging said moldshoulder to preclude movement of said mold fully to said freezing position when said plate is in engagement with said fixed stop.

12. The structure of claim 11 wherein said mold includes a second shoulder engaging said fixed stop in said dumping position.

A13. In an ice body maker, structure comprising: a mold defining a cavity for holding water to be frozen to form an ice body therein; means for disposing said mold selectively in a freezing position wherein the cavity opens upwardly and in a Vdumping position wherein the cavity opens away from the upward direction, said disposing means moving said mold from said dumping position to beyond said freezing position prior to returning the mold to said freezing position from said dumping position; means for collecting ice bodies dumped from the mold; iirst control means for preventing movement ofv said mold from said freezing position to said dumping position wheneverV unfrozen water is in said cavity; means for sensing the level of ice bodies collected in said collecting means; and a second control means responsive to said level sensing means for selectively preventing movement of said mold to saiddumping position, said second control means being arranged to hold said mold beyond said freezing position,y and said second control means including a plate having a cam follower, a stop, and a sensing arm extending into the collecting means, means pivotally mounting the plate adjacent the mold, a cam onthe mold movably engageable with said cam follower to position said arm in preselected positions corresponding to the positions of the mold, and a stop on the mold selectively engageable with said stop on the plate to preclude movement of the mold whenY the plate is held against movement asa result of the sensing arm being prevented from movement throughr the collecting means.

n 14. In` an ice body maker, structure comprising: a mold deiining a cavity for holding water to be frozen to form an ice body therein; means for disposing said mold selectively in a freezing position wherein the cavity opens upwardly and in a dumping position wherein the cavity opens away from the upward direction, said disposing means moving said mold from said dumping position to beyond said freezing position prior to returning the mold to said freezing position from said dumping position; means Yfor collecting ice bodies` dumped from the mold; firstV control means for preventing movement of said mold from said freezing position to said dumping position whenever unfrozen water is in said cavity; means for sensing the level of ice bodies collected in said collecting means; and second control means responsive to said level sensing means for selectively preventing movement ofV said mold to said dumping position, said second control means being arranged to hold said mold Vbeyond said freezing position, said first control means including a pair of selectively engageable shoulders arranged for selective disengagement by manual operation of the second control means when desired.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,990,697 7/61 Buzicky 62-345 2,996,895 8/ 61 Lippincott 62-138 3,016,718 1/62 Malone 62-344 3,024,618 3/ 62 Janquart 62-135 3,026,684 3/62 Chace 62-135 3,048,986 8/ 62 Archer 62-345 3,055,186 9/ 62 Linstromberg et al 62-344 ROBERT A. QLEARY, Primary Examiner.

MEYER PERLIN, Examiner. 

7. IN AN ICE BODY MAKER, STRUCTURE COMPRISING: A MOLD DEFINING A CAVITY FOR HOLDING WATER TO BE FROZEN TO FORM AN ICE BODY THEREIN, AND HAVING A CAM AND A SHOULDER THEREIN; MEANS FOR DISPOSING SAID MOLD SELECTIVELY IN A FIRST, FREEZING POSITION WHEREIN THE CAVITY OPENS UPWARDLY AND IN A SECOND, DUMPING POSITION WHEREIN THE CAVITY OPENS AWAY FROM THE UPWARD DIRECTION, AND IN A THIRD POSITION BEYOND SAID FREEZING POSITION FROM SAID DUMPING POSITION; MEANS DEFINING A SPACE FOR COLLECTING ICE BODIES DUMPED FROM THE MOLD; MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE DISPOSITION OF THE MOLD INCLUDING A PLATE HAVING A CAM FOLLOWER MOVABLY ENGAGAEBLE WITH SAID MOLD CAM, A STOP SELECTIVELY ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID MOLD SHOULDER, AND A SENSING ARM; AND MEANS MOVABLY CARRYING SAID PLATE FOR MOVEMENT OF SAID SENSING ARM DOWNWARDLY INTO SAID COLLECTING MEANS SPACE AS A RESULT OF MOVEMENT OF SAID MOLD FROM SAID DUMPING POSITION TOWARD SAID THIRD POSITION, SAID STOP ENGAGING SAID SHOULDER TO PRECLUDE MOVEMENT OF SAID MOLD FROM SAID THIRD POSITION FULLY TO SAID FREEZING POSITION IN THE EVENT THAT THE SENSING ARM IS PRECLUDED FROM MOVING INTO SAID SPACE BELOW A PRESELECTED LEVEL. 